We are living in difficult and hateful times and we are all witnessing the viciousness, evil and cruelty that is going on in this world. It is a good time for each of us to ask, am I being influenced by the culture? Am I becoming an encourager or a discourager?

Discouragers cause walls of division between people; but we forget that we need the support of one another.

Do we major in encouragement (building people up) or in discouragement (tearing people down)?

Do we nag and harass our family and friends about their weaknesses or do we praise them for their strengths?

When you enter a room or people see you at the shopping mall; do they avoid you because they know you have an ever ready list of the faults of everyone and anyone? Or do people cheer because you are a bright light of sunshine...one of those gracious gifts of God who sees the good in people...even in some people where something good is hard to find. Well, are you an encourager or a discourager?

I remember reading a true story when Lou Gehrig, the great baseball hero, was starting his baseball career. He went into a slump and grew so discouraged he was thinking of quitting. After several bad games, he doubted his talent and ability, and his spirits collapsed. A friend heard that he was in a slump, and he took a train to Hartford, Connecticut, and invited Lou to join him for a steak dinner. During that dinner Lou poured out his frustrations, and his friend could see that the player’s confidence was shot. So his friend spent the evening telling Lou that all hitters go through slumps, that even Ty Cobb failed to get hits six or seven times out of every ten tries. But he told him that eventually good hitters start hitting again, and his friend reminded him that he was a good hitter. After dinner Gehrig walked with his friend to the train station and thanked him for coming. The next day, Lou started blasting the ball again, and over the next eleven games he came through with twenty-two hits, including six home runs-and his career took off. He decided not to quit after all.

Yes, we are all entitled to our own opinions but remember what Grandma used to say? “If you don’t have anything nice to say, Don’t say anything at all?” Be the hand that lifts someone up when they have fallen. Be the hug or the smile that someone needs when they have no one else. Lend a listening ear when someone needs to talk. You never know YOU just might be that person who keeps someone from committing suicide or doing something that they really shouldn’t be doing! Be someone’s blessing.

Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will never forget you. -William Arthur Ward

Many years ago I was teaching a Sunday school class and the topic was JOY. I learned something as I was preparing for that class. There is only one way to spell JOY: J=Jesus first, O=Others second Y=yourself last

I look at the world today and I see no joy. I see no “ joy unspeakable“ that the Bible refers to in (1 Peter 1:8)………., you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

It seems that our country has lost its joy. I am not only speaking of unbelievers but take a look at our churches. So many of God's people look sad and defeated, because they have lost the joy of the Lord. Many Christians seem just as lonely, blue and fearful as the unbeliever. It has become a disgraceful testimony to the world, and it is high time every Christian asked himself:

How am I serving the Lord?

Am I serving Him only through fear or obligation?

Is my service half–hearted?

Have I taken Him for granted?

Do I have that unspeakable joy or has my joy died?

Am I truly excited and full of joy because I know Him?

Is my testimony to the lost saying that Christ can fill your heart with the highest degree of joy or have I become another depressed, complaining, worried Christian?

Is there enough joy in my soul to overflow in my actions and my conversation?.

Joy is supposed to be the secret of the Christian life and it appears to be totally absent in this day and age. Church is the one place where life’s burdens should be lighter; where faces and attitudes should reflect a passion, zeal and gusto. People should be asking us why do you have joy in an evil and hateful world?

The most joyful people I have ever known have learned to enjoy their lives, their work, their families, and most of all - their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Such people who serve the Lord have no trouble convincing people around them that Christianity is real and that Christ can transform a life.

I remember many years ago visiting a woman in the hospital who was in critical condition. Her illness had totally crippled her physically. I went to pray with her and spend some time to encourage her and do you know what? She uplifted me! Her attitude of joy was so contagious that our visit together, which was her last, was joyful! Joy is the indicator that announces that the King of kings is in residence in our lives.

Yes, we all have bad days, and I am not so naïve to think that we will always be living on the mountain top. But neither am I so spiritually ignorant that I am not aware that Christ has provided for us in times of those valley experiences- to go through them with us.​You rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory is the intended state of every believer if our faith is anchored firmly in Christ. It can be yours, too. So Choose Wisely!

I recently watched the funeral of the Reverend Billy Graham, as did many millions of others around the world. As a Christian it did my heart good to see how the family reacted to his death. Yes, they were sad that he was gone but there was an attitude of celebration, a spirit of hope. Most funerals and most lives today are perpetuating a spirit of hopelessness. Many non-Christian people are sensing for the first time a genuine hopelessness. Anxiety is all around us as we see terrorist attacks, political fanaticism, social unrest, hate and evil in front of our faces.​What hope can there possibly be for a better world for our children, grandchildren and even our great grandchildren? Where can we find new hope for the present, let alone our future? Where can our friends, family, and neighbors turn for hope? The Bible fully understands that hope is vital to all living people. Proverbs 13:12 (KJV) says: Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life. Hope outside of Christ is never realized. Yes, there are so many ways that hope is shattered: sickness, disaster, divorce, violence, debt, addictions, crime, bereavement, defeat, disappointments. These all seem to be symptoms of our modern society and are affecting millions of people, depriving them of peace, happiness and ultimately hope.

In the New Testament the Greek word for hope means the happy anticipation of good. As a Christian we not only have a hope by which to live but we also have a hope by which to die. Hope is the absolute certainty we have that God is good and that His promises are true. Hope is actually personalized in Jesus himself, He is our hope!

Colossians 1:27 …….Christ in you, the hope of glory (all made possible by the Cross).

So wake up Christians because this world needs people with a confident hope. Not a misplaced hope but a secure hope. The words of Jesus himself teach us that things are going to get worse before they get better, especially for the Christian. There is no chapter or verse in the entire Bible that says that God’s people are expected to live dictated to by world circumstances, NO, but there are many verses that tell us that we are to live by the principles and promises of God’s kingdom. We have the greatest hope of all in Titus 2:13 (KJV) Looking for that Blessed Hope --the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have a confident expectation that our lives and futures are in the hands of the One greater than the worlds strongest and most awful leaders. Other men see only a hopeless end; but the Christian rejoices in an endless hope.